Wayang Museum

The Wayang Museum is a museum devoted to Javan wayang puppetry, located in Kota Tua, the old town district of Jakarta, Indonesia. It stands on Fatahillah Square, one of several cultural institutions facing the square, alongside the Jakarta History Museum, the Fine Art and Ceramic Museum, and the Kota Post Office art gallery. The museum was inaugurated on August 13, 1975, following a conversion process that began in 1968, and it serves as a principal repository and study center for the diverse traditions of Indonesian puppet theater.

The site's history extends back to 1640, when the Old Dutch Church (De Oude Hollandsche Kerk) was constructed. After renovation in 1732, it became known as the New Dutch Church (De Nieuwe Hollandsche Kerk) until an earthquake destroyed the structure in 1808. In 1912, a new building in Neo-Renaissance style was erected for Geo Wehry & Co. as a warehouse, then renovated in 1938 according to Dutch colonial architectural principles. The Batavia Society of Arts and Sciences (Bataviasche Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen) acquired the building and transferred it to the Old Batavia Foundation (Stichting Oud Batavia), which opened it as the Old Batavia Museum (Oude Bataviasche Museum) on December 22, 1939. Following Indonesian independence, the building passed to the Institute of Indonesian Culture (Lembaga Kebudayaan Indonesia) in 1957, then to the Ministry of Education and Culture on September 17, 1962. On June 23, 1968, the DKI Jakarta Administration designated it as the Wayang Museum, with formal inauguration on August 13, 1975.

The museum holds a broad collection of wayang forms, including Javanese wayang kulit (leather shadow puppets) and Sundanese wayang golek (rod puppets). Its scope extends beyond Indonesian traditions to encompass puppetry from Malaysia, Thailand, Suriname, China, Vietnam, France, India, and Cambodia. The collections also include gamelan sets, wayang sculptures, and wayang paintings. The museum periodically organizes wayang theater performances and workshops on puppet-making, functioning as both a conservation institution and a living center for the art form.

Within the museum, a plate marks the tombstone of Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the former Governor-General of the Dutch East India Company, whose funeral took place on the former church yard that is now the museum garden. This commemorative stone connects the institution to the site's colonial past. The museum's holdings of wayang kulit and wayang golek represent the core of its collection, supplemented by international puppetry examples that illustrate cross-cultural connections in the art form.

The present building dates from a 1938 renovation following Dutch colonial architectural conventions, though it incorporates the earlier Neo-Renaissance warehouse structure from 1912. The garden occupies the former yard of the Dutch church, preserving this layer of colonial history. The museum's location on Fatahillah Square places it within the historic urban fabric of Kota Tua, contributing to the area's concentration of heritage institutions.

The Wayang Museum is situated in Kota Tua, Jakarta, Indonesia, facing Fatahillah Square. It operates as a public institution under the administration of DKI Jakarta, accessible through its website at http://www.museumwayang.com/. The museum continues to serve its present role as a dedicated center for wayang puppetry, offering periodic theater performances, workshops, and educational programming alongside its permanent collections.